Science of the Soul

Multiplicity: The Parts of Us and Therapeutic Approaches

Sharon Stern is a clinical psychologist who specialises in trauma work. Sharon talks to us about multiplicity, i.e. the different parts of ourselves. She explains how we often reduce our different selves to one self. She references literature and figure of speech to explain this idea further. 

We talk about how this translates into the therapy space. We touched on:

- Philosophically in Greek mythology

- Freud's life

- Balancing between the parts of our ourselves

- Ownership of our parts

- How our parts ensure our survival 

- Compartmentalizing & Dissociation

- The Vagus Nerve

- Experiences in Early Childhood and how that can shape our parts

 

We finally arrive to Love & Compassion as an antidote, and how therapy helps us learn to tool to integrate of the different parts of ourselves. 

If you'd like to get in touch with Sharon, you can visit her website at: 

https://www.sharonsternpsychologist.com/

Or write to her at sharon@sharonsternpsychologist.com. 

 

 

Sexual Health, Blood-Borne Virus & Sister Girls of the NT

This episode introduces Mary Weru, a senior case manager working in sexual health and blood borne virus in the Northern Territory. 

Mary was a colleague from a few years ago, and she has always exuded extreme positivity and competence. She is now in the role of managing vulnerable individuals with sexually transmittable viruses, as well as campaigning for the education of these viruses. 

Through her work, she realised the intricacies and complexities of the vulnerable population and their 'resistance to treatment.'

She tells us about the challenges of the people she treats, and brings us insight into their lived experiences.

She also brings to the table a passionate discussion of how she negotiates her role, as a mediator between the medical professionals and the wellbeing of her clients. She describes the tension these two groups have towards each other.

As a result, the delicate balance between education and empathy seems to be a skill she has developed, working in this field.

Amongst all this, we also lightheartedly touch on transgender health and identity of Sister Girls in the Northern Territory. She shares anecdotes of the confusion professionals face when identifying Sister Girls for legal and medical purposes. 

Ultimately, Mary brings to home the importance of de-stigmatizing the nature of blood borne viruses, the effectiveness of the treatments of HIV and Hepatitis, developing effective family systems, and also how commonly prevalent they are in our society.

This conversation with Mary has illuminated a lot of my personal misconceptions about the reality of living with such viruses, as well as broadened my understanding on the topic. We hope this podcast will do the same for you.

Visit NTAHC and the NT Health Website for more information.

You can learn more from: 

NTAHC (Northern Territory Aids and Hepatitis Council)

https://www.ntahc.org.au/ 

ASHM

ASHM provides support to the HIV, viral hepatitis and sexual health workforce.

https://www.ashm.org.au/ 

NT Health

For professionals: https://health.nt.gov.au/professionals/centre-for-disease-control/resources-and-publications 

 

 

4ZZZ Only Human Radio Show

In this episode I’d like to share a wonderful experience I had a few weeks ago with the radio show Only human on 4zzz.

I was invited and interviewed by Dr Kim Stewart and Belle, and we talked about my PhD research in bereavement, trauma counselling for people with a refugee background, and culturally aware psychotherapy.

I talk about the Muslim population in Australia and Southeast Queensland, and the diversity in which it presents. We talk about the types of grief, the existential crises that can emerge from losing someone you love, and what support looks like. We also explored my experiences working with the humanitarian settlement program in Australia. 

I feel very privileged to have had this experience with such warm and seasoned hosts. It’s definitely different being the interviewee for a change.

So if you’re keen to know a little bit about my background, and some of my professional passions, and you have about 30 or so minutes to spare, I humbly invite you to tune in.

Empowering Cultural Diversity & Disability with Education & Social Inclusion

Officially, Isabel Osuna-Gatty is known a National Disability Coordination Officer in South Australia. In layman's terms, Isabel describes herself as a community educator. She engages with the Spanish speaking community, hosts her own radio show and online chat platform for Spanish speaking women worldwide.

Isabel is originally from Venezuela, and her experiences with disability and social exclusion has primed her for her work today. To learn more about Isabel's personal history, tune into Growing Bold Within the CALD Community in the link below: 

https://www.feroscare.com.au/grow-bold-podcast/season-two/episode-3-growing-bold-within-the-cald-community

Her background is in psychology, counselling, education and supporting disabilities. Her choice of medium is predominantly in the arts, whether verbal, digital, or plain ol' visual arts.

In this podcast, we explore trauma and learning amongst multicultural communities (migrant and/or refugee). We discuss how communication during group activities empower participants towards education and employment, as they assimilate and acculturate in Australia. 

Isabel educates us on how to approach such activities with cultural sensitivity, with a trauma-informed approach. This includes housekeeping rules of:

• what to say
• what not to say when participating during the group sessions
• how to create trust and rapport implicitly (disguised assistance)

We discuss the challenges and strategies of working with trauma survivors who do not choose to address their past traumas.

Here, we go in-depth to paint a vivid picture to take listeners through the extreme paradigm shift they face in order to grasp their challenges and experiences. 

We also draw upon our personal experiences as young students, and reflect upon teaching methods of the past. Isabel presents the 'glass half-full' philosophy to illustrate the types of educators, some of whom can be detrimental to the potential future success of youths that present with disabilities. 

She presents the work of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, and advocates his method of education and learning. 

You can connect with Isabel via LinkedIn at https://au.linkedin.com/in/isabel-osuna-gatty-83b38419 

or visit her website at https://isabelosunagatty.com/

 

From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to Post-Traumatic Growth: A Lifelong Journey

Princess R. Lakshman is an inspiring and impressive personality. Princess is a qualified in traditional medicine, remedial masseuse, life coach, clinical nutritionist, and counsellor. She is also a writer, a poet, and is still continuing her post-graduate education in mental health. Her latest book, The Soul Speaks, is available on: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Xlibris Publishers.

However, her extensive list of qualifications are simply a reflection of her desire to help and heal. Her remarkably holistic approaches further underscores her passion. Princess shares with us on how her journey of challenges and illnesses shaped her to who she is today. She tells us about her abusive marriage, her problematic family history and how she was disowned for religious reasons, and her encounter with a brain tumour. It is not surprising that she suffered from PTSD. 

 

However, this podcast is not about PTSD- instead it is about how Princess battled her wars and transcended them. This podcast is about Post-Traumatic Growth: PTG. Princess shares with us on how she turned her life around, and achieved growth through: a daily practice of self-awareness, mindfulness, changing her victim mentality, and narrative therapy. She approaches PTG through being aware of, accepting, and navigating through her 'darkness'. She talks about how she works with her own shame and guilt in order to transcend the darkness instead of rejecting it. She is also a spiritually-informed practitioner, therefore approaches challenges with an existential appreciation. 

 

A key highlight of the conversation is when Princess and I unpacked the difference between responding and reacting. She calls this "a gift of solitude." This particular insight of hers has permanently reframed my understanding of 'respond VS react' in a profound way. Thank you Princess, for sparing your time and sharing your knowledge with us. 

 

You can connect with Princess R. Lakshman through: 

https://mindbodyhealinghub.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mindbodyhealinghub/

https://www.instagram.com/muslimahmindmatters/

https://www.facebook.com/princessrlakshman/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/princess-r-lakshman-46697616/

 

Her new book, The Soul Speaks, which I absolutely love, is available on: 

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

XLIBRIS PUBLISHERS

 

 

Men‘s Mental Health

Sidqie is a Professional Life Coach and works with fathers, young adults and leaders. He focuses on building emotionally intelligent families, and is particularly passionate about working with Men & Mental Health.

 

In this episode, Sidqie very humbly recounts his personal journey, including relationship breakdowns, and the major turning point of him losing a dear friend to suicide.

 

Sidqie also dives into issues of the stigma of men’s mental health, cultural influences, issues  around men’s attitudes towards vulnerability, and draws on some intimate familial anecdotes of how his emotions of pain and anguish were not acknowledged nor received. Yet, Sidqie manages to reframe some of his most unfortunate tales with compassion and understanding.

 

He shares a holistic account on the multifaceted areas of mental health awareness amongst men such as:

• Issues around shame,
• Negative self-talk,
• Various behavioural manifestations of escapism such as gaming,
• Impacts on work, children, and romantic relationships.

Sidqie also offers some insights and practices into reflecting and bringing the unconscious to the conscious mind.

You can find Sidqie at https://www.facebook.com/reconnectq/ and https://www.instagram.com/reconnect.q/ Reconnect Q provides coaching services for Fathers, Men and Youth in aspects of Life, Business and Leadership.

A Biblical Counsellor’s Take on the Fear of God, the Ten Commandments, and Death Anxiety (Part 2)

In this episode, Padre Perona beautifully uses metaphors and biblical literature to illustrate the two opposing narratives of God as the Tyrant & God as Freedom. 

 

He talks about how religion seemingly functions as an outwork control, despite its focus on inward transformation through love, interpretation and insight.

We discuss the aspects of:

• How believing in Christ can be used to dodge or escape or delay character accountability;
• How Christ is a frame of reference for good character; and
• How Christ is seen as God, rather than a Prophet- and implications of that on one's spirituality. 

Padre Perona also interprets for us the Gospel of John in terms of how it highlights forgiveness, as well as why the Ten Commandments appear to be expressed negatively. 

 

Towards the end, we further unpack death anxiety for believers, where many experience fear in their last moments. He shares his approaches when working with death anxiety through the concept of Grace. 

 

Please refer to the links below if you'd would like to learn more about Padre Perona and his work.

https://www.facebook.com/ChrisPeronalifewithchrist

http://lifewithchrist.com.au/

biblicalcounsellor@lifewithchrist.com.au

A Biblical Counsellor’s Take on Humanity, Suffering, Healing and Meaning (Part 1)

This is an in-depth two-part podcast with Padre Chris Perona, a Biblical Counsellor. Padre Perona has had a colourful journey where his passions have not only led him to ministerial work for 15 years, but also through a career in nursing and advertising somewhere in between.

 

In this podcast, he shares his holistic approach of counselling from a spiritual framework, namely from a creationist paradigm. He candidly draws on his He also explains the difference between ministerial work and counselling, where he introduces the Freudian idea that a psychotherapist is in fact, a secular pastor.

 

Throughout Part 1, we discuss our perspectives on humanity, spiritual love, grief and pain, healing, injustice, hope, and meaning. By interpreting Psalm 77, Padre Perona extrapolates how core aspects of religion, aids in reframing life’s experience, which can cradle the mental health of believers.

 

We further address the philosophical standpoint of religion on mental health in terms of creating meaning for the ubiquitous suffering, therefore bolstering existential crises.

 

Towards the end of the hour, we address his perspectives of Yin & Yang and Karma alongside the Biblical understandings of Good & Evil.

 

Finally, we find ourselves on the topic of being ‘born again’, and it brought me to realise how this belief can undeniably mitigate intrapsychic distress.

 

Books referenced in the podcast:

The Question of Lay Analysis (Freud, 1969).

Man's Search for Meaning (Frankl, 1946).

Conversation with a Buddhist Travelling Nurse: Ego, Fear, and Love

Scott Andrews is a travelling nurse and a practising Buddhist for over a decade. Together, we delve deeply into ways of approaching fear, the nuances of using 'will' and bravado versus love and acceptance.

"If you can empower yourself with the ability to feel love... that doesn't consume any energy at all, in fact it generates energy."

We go further extrapolating elements of compassion in approaching fear, namely compassion to a part of the self- and this is where I realise the link with psychotherapy and 'parts' work.

We also unpack concepts involving the ego, intellect, and how wisdom prevails when we allow it to. We literally break down the mental processes involved, to learn or unlearn the approaches towards embracing (not so much confronting) our fears.

Creative Arts Therapy, Traumawork, and Altruistic Professional Development

Sanja Stojcic is a Holistic Therapist. She runs the College of Conscious Living where she engages with the Creative Arts towards professional AND personal growth. Issues around personal transformation, embodied traumas, parental contamination, building trust within a closed group, authenticity, and altruism were explored during this warm, humorous, yet heartfelt conversation. Tune in to learn more about the fundamental ideas and structure behind working with 1) the realisation, 2) the expression and, 3) the healing of embodied traumas.

Visit https://collegeofconsciousliving.com/ for more information.